Twenty-four anabolic steroids are to be banned under plans to tackle their abuse by boys seeking to improve their physique.

The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, announced the proposals yesterday after warnings from the Government’s official advisers on drugs that the steroids — long favoured by athletes and bodybuilders — are being abused by youngsters.

“Anabolic steroids have been used by sports people in numerous well publicised cases, but there is also increasing concern over the use of them among the general public and, in particular, concerns around young people,” a Home Office consultation paper said.

The paper added that banning them was in line with the Government’s policy of preventing their misuse by the general public but also by elite athletes, particularly in the run-up to the 2010 Olympics.

Fifty-four anabolic steroids and five growth promoters are currently banned. Ms Smith is proposing to add 24 more steroids to the list, along with two growth promoters.

Anabolic steroids, taken in tablet or injected in liquid form, are prescription-only drugs but it is not illegal to possess them. Possession with intent to supply is illegal, however, and carries a maximum 14-year jail term or unlimited fine.

Users are able to get round controls on the drug by buying them from internet sites, obtaining them from friends or buying them overseas.

Latest estimates from the British Crime Survey suggest that 179,000 people aged 16-59 have used anabolic steroids, but one expert suggests that the figure might be more than 200,000.

Earlier this year Mike Linnell, of the Lifeline drugs charity in Manchester, told The Times that needle-exchange projects were reporting rising numbers of men injecting steroids for cosmetic reasons.

“What we have seen over the past two years is a growth in people who are not drug users in the traditional sense. They are coming in having used anabolic steroids because they wanted to look good. It is all about image.”

Ironically, the side-effects of abusing steroids, which include acne, the growth of breasts, shrinkage of the testicles and erection problems, are potentially devastating for young men with a fixation on the body beautiful.

The Home Office consultation paper warns that steroid misuse can also cause aggression, irritability, high blood pressure and infertility.

Two drugs linked to the deaths of young people would also be controlled under the proposals. The Home Office is looking at outlawing BZP — also known as herbal E — and GBL, an industrial solvent found in nail polish remover and sold as a “legal high”.

A coroner called for BZP to be banned after the death of Daniel Backhouse, 22, a mortgage broker, who mixed it with Ecstasy.

Heather Stewart, 21, died after taking GBL in Brighton last month. Her parents wrote to the Home Secretary asking her to change the law.

Miss Stewart’s mother, Maryon, said she was “delighted” with the proposal to control GBL.

Mrs Stewart, a nutritionist who lives in Brighton, will ask how soon the drug will be banned when she meets Ms Smith on June 3.

“As far as I’m concerned there is no time to lose,” she said. “I’m delighted at the announcement and feel it is a step in the right direction.”

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